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Church Publishing Inc has released the new marriage rites for the Episcopal Church’s trial use

December 5, 2015 by

The new marriage rites are available in electronic versions for free download, The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage and The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2. The rites are also available in print with other liturgical resources in the newly revised and expanded publication, Liturgical Resources 1: I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing. The first rite, The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage, is a new marriage liturgy that can be used for the marriage of any couple. The second rite, The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2, is a revised version of the gender neutral adaptation of the marriage rite found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Liturgical Resources 1: I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing provides the background and development of these two liturgies, as well as, General Convention’s intended use of the rites.

General Convention 2012 recommended the original publication of Liturgical Resources 1: I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing, to the use of TEC. It offered The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant and was used by a number of dioceses. Feedback from that use has guided the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music in the development of a revised liturgy, The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage and has gone into the other resources in the revised and expanded version of the book. The feedback further led the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to develop the gender neutral version of the 1979 marriage liturgy also found in the book.

By Resolution 2015-A054, General Convention 2015 has authorized the use of these resources for trial use as a proposed revision to the TEC Book of Common Prayer. In the resolution, General Convention stated that the liturgies are to be used with the permission and under the direction of the bishop diocesan. It further stated that bishops exercising ecclesiastical authority or supervision will make provision that the liturgies are available to all couples requesting marriage in the Episcopal Church. As bishops diocesan have made their decisions public regarding use of the new liturgies in their dioceses, we have tried to cover those published decisions in various stories here at The Lead.

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